An investigative report by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) has raised serious concerns about the incarceration of Nigerian social media influencer Bobrisky, whose real name is Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju.
According to the report, Bobrisky served only three weeks of a six-month sentence for currency abuse, with the remainder allegedly spent in a secret location.
The controversy began when Martins Vincent Otse, known as VeryDarkMan, released an audio recording in which Bobrisky purportedly claimed to have spent most of the sentence outside prison.
In this recording, Bobrisky allegedly admitted to paying N15 million to operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to drop money laundering charges against him.
The FIJ report indicates that while Bobrisky was initially taken to Kirikiri prison in April, he left after just three weeks. A prison official described the situation, stating that Bobrisky was "guarded like a president" during this time and received preferential treatment, including staying in a special cell.
The official confirmed that financial transactions facilitated this arrangement, stating, “The money she said she paid is actually true; no lies.”
These revelations align with previous undercover investigations by FIJ founder Fisayo Soyombo, who documented how monetary exchanges could lead to preferential treatment within Nigerian prisons.
Despite restrictions on interactions with other inmates, there was an incident where a fellow inmate inadvertently recorded Bobrisky during a video call with his girlfriend.
In light of these allegations, two senior officials from the Nigerian prison service have been suspended pending further investigation into the bribery claims surrounding Bobrisky’s case.
The EFCC is also conducting an inquiry into whether its officers accepted bribes related to the dismissal of charges against Bobrisky.
Bobrisky has publicly denied the allegations of bribery and insists that he served his sentence fully.
